Warren Buffett – HBO Documentary 2017

Warren Buffett – HBO Documentary 2017

The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett ranked number two on the Forbes 400 for 15 years straight. That streak ended in September 2016 when he was overtaken (by Jeff Bezos) despite adding $3.5 billion to his fortune in the previous year. The last time he ranked so low, Bill Clinton was in the White House. He spent parts of 2016 stumping for Hillary, and promised to release his tax returns if Donald Trump did the same. Unlike Trump, Buffett does not think America needs to be made great again. « The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history, » he wrote in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. « For 240 years it’s been a terrible mistake to bet against America, and now is no time to start. » Such optimism makes sense coming from one of the most successful investors in history. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway remain near all-time highs. One investment not doing well: Wells Fargo. The company, in which Berkshire has a 10% stake, is mired in scandal for creating 2 million accounts for customers without their permission. Berkshire also has stakes in American Express and Coca-Cola and owns Geico, Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom. In July 2016 Buffett gave away nearly $2.9 billion in Berkshire stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and his family members’ foundations, in what has become his annual summer gift. Known for his relative frugality, Buffett still lives in the Omaha home he purchased for $31,500 in 1958. He says his best investment was buying Benjamin Graham’s legendary book, « The Intelligent Investor, » in 1949.